Guttenberg: "Alyeska's 'open-working-environment' was not working at all"

Today, Representative David Guttenberg (D-Fairbanks) testified before a congressional subcommittee about safety, pipeline integrity, and employee concerns raised by Alyeska Pipeline Company employees.

"The TAPS infrastructure is rapidly aging and problems are bound to occur. Now is not the time for Alyeska to skimp on pipeline safety and integrity," said Rep. Guttenberg.

Guttenberg described how Alyeska ignored employee concerns about the consequences of decisions made to save money, especially the transfer of integrity management personnel farther from the pipeline.

"Alyeska's 'open-working-environment' was not working at all, allowing poor decisions to go unchecked that could have severe consequences for the state of Alaska," said Guttenberg.

Rep. Guttenberg's testimony was part of a U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials hearing on "The Safety of Hazardous Liquid Pipelines (Part 2): Integrity Management."

Rep. Guttenberg built and maintained oil infrastructure in Alaska as a rank-and-file member of the Laborers Union for over 25 years, much of which was on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Recently, he has led efforts to get Alyeska to listen to employee concerns on pipeline safety issues and internal communications problems.

Read Rep. Guttenberg's testimony and his recent op-ed in the Fairbanks News Miner about recent pipeline safety issues at Alyeska.